


For Whom Our Regret is Greater

by zarabithia



Category: Marvel 616, Young Avengers
Genre: Community: 100 women, F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-07-05
Updated: 2007-07-05
Packaged: 2017-10-26 19:10:03
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 530
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/286864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zarabithia/pseuds/zarabithia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After returning to headquarters, Kate and Eli try to unwind.  Her body might be with Eli, but her mind and heart are not.</p>
            </blockquote>





	For Whom Our Regret is Greater

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the "lost" prompt at the 100 women community.

_  
“Sometimes we lose friends for whose loss our regret is greater than our grief, and others for whom our grief is greater than our regret.” ~ François de la Rochefoucauld  
_

Somehow, Kate has never really thought that Captain America would play such a prominent role in losing her virginity - or, at least, what Kate is calling her virginity, because _no_ , that creep in the park did _not_ take that from her.

But fresh from an encounter with ... _that man_ wearing Cap's costume, she and Eli make it to the cramped sleeping space they'd been sharing and those bright (not as bright as Cap's, though) reds, whites, and blues join her purples on the floor next to the tiny cot she'd been sleeping on, two feet away from Eli's cot. For once, Eli is as frantic as she is, as his shield lands with a clatter next to her bow and hastily discarded quiver.

Every arrow in her quiver is still in place.

They lie on her cot because Eli's is too far away. Eli's hands hands are steady and purposeful even while he's in a hurry. His hands explore her body with a thoroughness that belies both the quickness and the urgency of what they're doing. Kate tries to focus on the way the rough hands travel from her nipple to her thigh to the dark curls between her legs. She tries to focus on the way Eli's certainty stalls as he dips his fingers into her, his face watching hers for the first sign that he's done something wrong or that he's hurt her.

She wants to shake him, tell him to get on with it already. That he's breaking up the frantic pace they'd established from the minute they escaped Iron Man's capture.

She wants to yell at him that she won't break. She hasn't yet, after all.

But the yell dries and dies in her throat, overpowered by the voices of the Avengers a floor below. The voices are muted, but sound almost not _completely_ unhappy and despite all of Kate's efforts, and despite Eli's skill in manipulating what is supposed to be the most sensitive part of her body, her mind drifts to her team. _Their_ team. The team that hadn't lasted long enough to deserve getting broken apart the way they had.

Kate doesn't want that distraction. She wants to focus on what she has, not what she has lost.

Rolling Eli onto his back, Kate presses her lips as tightly as she can against his in an effort to drown out the noise coming from downstairs. It's enough to get Eli's attention, and to force his hands to guide her hips as she climbs on top of him.

She's surprised he doesn't argue over the position. Kate wonders if the muffled voices of their current teammates are distracting him, too. She certainly doesn't blame him, if her presence isn't enough to block the memories of four people who _used_ to be their teammates.

Though as he enters her she is fairly certain that the memory of a blond ponytail and cherry flavored chapstick are not as prominent in Eli's memory as they are in hers.


End file.
